At – Enoch, the Seventh Generation from Adam, also Prophesied about These People Jude 14-15

Enoch, the Seventh Generation from Adam,
also Prophesied about These People
Jude 14-15

Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these people DIG: What categories of prophets were there in the TaNaKh? What kind was Enoch? Why is his prophecy important to us? What was the topic of his prophecy (Revelation 19:20)? What extra biblical book does Jude quote from? Why did he quote it? How do you feel about that? Was Jude endorsing the whole book? How can we be sure what Jude quotes comes from God and not of man? Why does Jude put the Lord’s coming in the past tense? What does Jude say Yeshua is coming to do?

REFLECT: What do you think of when you read about the Second Coming? People need the Lord, but do we believe it enough to do something about it? Do you give sacrificially to those who are on the front lines of spreading the gospel? Do you believe it enough to share the Good News to a “good” coworker or a “moral” neighbor? We should never again read about God’s future judgment in the end times without being moved by these questions.

Enoch, the seventh [generation] from Adam, prophesied about these people. See, the Lord is coming with thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him (Jude 14-15 NLT).

If it were not for Jude, we would not know practically anything about Enoch’s prophecy spoken before the Flood. Early in the first book of the Bible we read about the great antediluvian civilization (Genesis 4:17-22). We also know something about the wickedness of those days (Genesis 6:1-5), but ADONAI did not give us a written revelation of antediluvian prophecy until His Word was almost completed.

Jude returns to a theme introduced earlier, namely, that God determined the judgment of the apostates in the distant past (to see link click Ah – Godless People Have Secretly Slipped in Among You). The prophecy of Enoch demonstrates that the false teachers were destined for judgment from the very beginning. They had no hope of ultimately triumphing. Enoch prophesied that long ago the LORD would come and judge all who lived ungodly lives. Their ungodliness reveals itself in both their works and their words.⁸⁶

For three hundred years Enoch preached a message of judgment for the ungodly. Without question, his personal walk with God would have been obvious in the power of his zealous preaching. He faithfully warned the world about the coming wrath of ADONAI. Even though he would never see that judgment himself, he faithfully declared it nonetheless. Three generations later, his great-grandson Noah took up the same cause: And God did not spare the ancient world; on the contrary, He preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, and brought the Flood upon a world of ungodly people (Second Peter 2:5 CJB).

Jude caps his denunciation of the false teachers with a prophecy. This in itself is not unusual, the writers of the B’rit Chadashah often applied ancient prophecies to their own situations. But what is unusual about this prophecy is its source. Enoch, the seventh [generation] from Adam (see my commentary on Genesis Bv – Enoch was the Father of Methuselah and Walked with God for 300 Years), prophesied about these people (Jude 14a). Jude begins to conclude his third main division, the Description of Apostates – Jude 8-16 (Am), by dealing with the judgment of the imposters as prophesied by Enoch. Jude referred to Enoch as the seventh from Adam because he was the seventh [generation] following Adam: (1) Adam, (2) Seth, (3) Enosh, (4) Kenan, (5) Mahalalel, (6) Jared and then (7) Enoch. Seven is the perfect number, it emphasizes the stature of Enoch (see my commentary on Genesis Ae – The Number Seven).⁸⁷

There were written prophets like Isaiah, but there were also oral prophets like Enoch. He is the only prophet from the centuries before the Flood whose words have been preserved for us. This puts Enoch in good company. Moses, Paul, and Peter spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (Second Peter 1:21). Moses went even further back into the past when he wrote about the story of creation. Sha’ul named the magicians of Egypt of whom Moses left no written record (2 Timothy 3:8), and quoted a statement by Christ not found in the gospels (Acts 20:35). Peter informs us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness (Second Peter 2:5), a fact of which we would otherwise be ignorant about.⁸⁸

When Jude deals with the purpose of the Second Coming, he presents the ninth triad. See, the Lord (kurios) Jesus is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones (Jude 14b). This prophecy does not appear in Scripture apart from Jude. It is found, however, in the book of First Enoch 1:9 and 5:4, which is one of the Pseudepigrapha and falsely attributed to the biblical Enoch. It is a Jewish book attributed to famous biblical figures like Enoch (Genesis 5:18-24) during the last three centuries before the coming of the Messiah. Again, Jude is not authenticating the entire book, but only verifying that one statement in First Enoch is true. But all of Jude is included in the canon of Scripture, so we can be sure it is inspired by God the Holy Spirit. The fact is that Jude, a pious Jew, knew and loved First Enoch and had grown up in a community where it was regarded with respect and even reverence; took his quotation from it quite naturally, knowing that his readers would recognize and respect it. He did not verify the whole book, he was simply doing what all the New Covenant writers did, speaking to people in a language that they recognized and understood.⁸⁹

It had to be widely known that the historical Enoch did not write the book itself. Perhaps the inspired author wanted everyone to know that he was talking about the Enoch from the book of Genesis by calling Enoch, the seventh from Adam. The historical Enoch was very interesting to the Jews during the second Temple period, since he did not die but was taken into the presence of ADONAI (Genesis 5:23-24). The book of Hebrews confirms it: By faith, Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God (Hebrews 11:5). Jewish writers concluded from this that heavenly secrets were given to Enoch. Therefore, it is not surprising that he was an agent of revelation in Jewish literature like the book of Enoch.⁹⁰

When Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming, He will come with His holy ones (Deuteronomy 33:2-3; Job 5:1; Psalms 16:3 and 34:9; Zechariah 14:5 and Jude 1) who were taken up into heaven in the Rapture. The term thousands upon thousands, or myriads (which is the English spelling of the Greek word), means in the singular ten thousand, and in the plural as it is here, an innumerable multitude, or an unlimited number.⁹¹

Zechariah looked forward to the day when: ADONAI my God will come to you with all the holy ones (Zechariah 14:5b CJB). It is clearly taught in the B’rit Chadashah that angels will accompany Yeshua when He returns (Matthew 16:27, 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; First Thessalonians 3:13; Second Thessalonians 1:7). The inclusion of angels at His Second Coming tells us that it will be both stunning and majestic.⁹²

The Lord’s coming is a sure thing. Enoch looked at what was unveiled before his eyes, and said, as if in astonishment: See, the Lord came. The first prophecy ever given through a man, like the last (Revelation 22:20), has nothing to do with Messiah’s First Coming in grace to bring salvation, but with His Second Coming to bring judgment. When Jude reveals this (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) he actually uses the past tense – came. This is the historic tense of prophecy. The aorist tense of the verb came was used because Enoch spoke in a vision in which the future appears to him as the present (really a prophetic past) as in Isaiah 9:6 and 53:4. Nothing can change the facts of history after they have already happened. Nor can anyone, or anything, prevent an event that ADONAI has determined. Enoch looked at what God unveiled before his eyes and said with confidence: See, the Lord came! So we can be sure that Jesus will come and that He will do exactly as Enoch prophesied.⁹³ It is such a sure thing that the Messiah views it as if it has already happened.

First, He is coming to execute judgment on the people of the world (Jude 15a NLT). The Lord came once to bring salvation; He will come again to bring judgment (Hebrews 9:26-28). Jude’s word for judgment is krisei. Christ used the same word when He spoke of the judgment of two towns in Galilee that did not believe in Him even after witnessing His miracles: Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting on sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you (Luke 10:13-14). It is the word found in Hebrews 10:27: A certain fearful looking for judgment; and in Second Peter 3:7, the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly people.

Our Lord declared plainly that no believer will ever come into judgment. Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying and trusts the One who sent Me has eternal life – that is, they will not come up for judgment but has already crossed over from death to life (John 5:24 CJB)! We will appear before Yeshua Messiah (see my commentary on Revelation Cc – For We Must All Appear Before the Judgment Seat of Christ) to render an account for our service and to receive rewards. Prior to the judgment, believers will have been raptured from the earth to meet Jesus Christ in the air. The dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (see First Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Second, He is coming to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way (Jude 15b). There will be no excuses. No evil action is exempted. Nothing is erased from God’s database. The ungodly will be presented with unanswerable evidence that their actions and words have been ungodly (see my commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment). Those who have rejected the Lord demonstrate that fact by the way they live.

Third, He is coming to convict the ungodly of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him (Jude 15c). The fact that the word ungodly is used so many times in Jude 15 is a remarkable repetition. The term describes the real attitude of these apostates toward God. Despite their religious formality and their godly false front, they are lacking any reverence, awe, and honest faithfulness toward Him. The rebels are so devoted to their sin that they are content with their present condition. They are in it for profit, adoration and lust. They will worry about the penalty later! As a result, they will be convicted by both what they have said and what they have done. Rather than being true spiritual leaders, they had spoken with harsh words against Christ whom they denied. We must remember that ADONAI Himself labels the imposters as being ungodly.

As believers, we eagerly look forward to the day of Messiah’s return. It is the blessed hope that comforts us in our present trials and encourages us to lead a life of holiness. While we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you (Titus 2:13-15). But as Jude reminds us, He is coming to execute judgment on the people of the world (Jude 15a NLT). How should this lead us to regard the overwhelming number of people around us every day – people who do not know Christ?

The answer is obvious, yet all too difficult to live by. We have a tendency to push judgment far into the future; or worse yet, believe that ADONAI will not really judge people who are living generally “good” lives. However, the Bible is clear: the Messiah will come to judge all the ungodly, and there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one (Romans 3:9b-12). Apart from a personal relationship with Jesus, all those “good” people that we know are, in the Lord’s sight, ungodly and as a result, doomed to suffer the consequences when Messiah returns as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). Their future plight should motivate us to action.⁹⁴